


A Peace, Apart

by WhisperOfWarmth



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), kylux - Fandom
Genre: Affection, Armitage Hux - Freeform, Armitage Hux Has Issues, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Coming Out, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluffy Ending, Gay, Humor, Hux - Freeform, I Ship It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Idiots in Love, Kylo Ren - Freeform, Kylo Ren Angst, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylo Ren is Matt the Radar Technician, Kylux - Freeform, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Love, M/M, Out of Character, Public Display of Affection, Romance, Same Sex Relationship, Sensitive Kylo Ren, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Short Story, Soft Kylux, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Freeform, The First Order, The Force Awakens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 00:45:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12876558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperOfWarmth/pseuds/WhisperOfWarmth
Summary: Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux, both prominent leaders in The First Order, have been romantically involved for quite some time. Yet most people, from their closest friends to the lowest level subordinates, are not even aware of their relationship.This is due mostly to the strict, secretive nature of Hux. He tells Kylo that their love needs to be kept a secret purely for the sake of professionalism, but Kylo isn't really accepting (or understanding) of that.Things come to a head during an argument, and Hux must find a way to appease both the sensitive, emotional Knight, as well as his own repressed sexuality.





	A Peace, Apart

"So, General, you look rather happy today. More so than usual. I take it you had a 'special visit' with your 'special friend', recently?"

Hux looked up at him, and sighed.

Whether Kylo Ren was truly pushing the limits of his sanity, Hux wasn't sure.

Whether this was his way of coping with the stress and strain of his hectic life, Hux wasn't sure.

What he WAS sure of, was that every week, at least once a week, Kylo would dress himself up in the ugly green jumper that the maintenance staff wore, accompanied by a frumpy blonde wig, and thick-rimmed glasses. He would refer to himself as Matt, claim be part of the radar technician staff, and go through the entire day in this persona.

Which, truthfully, wasn't that much different from his OWN personality, except, perhaps, in the way others approached him.

And Hux, again, wasn't sure if what he felt was worse: the charade in and of itself, or the way everybody on the base, including himself, went along with it.

He looked up at him now, and struggled to keep from laughing at 'Matt's' very personal question.

"You must be mistaken, Matt. I don't have a special friend. In fact, I hardly have any friends at all."

"No? Then what would you call ME?"

A radar technician with far too much free time on his hands?"

'Matt' chuckled, and shook his head. Then he went back to his earlier point.

"In all seriousness, though; I have it on good authority that you've been seeing a certain raven-haired knight, and for quite some time, now."

"I'm neither going to confirm, or deny that, Matt. And even if it WERE true, nobody KNOWS that outside of the two of us, correct?"

"That's where you're mistaken, General. I've heard rumors," 'Matt' said casually, drumming his fingers along the edge of Hux's desk. "Apparently, you and Lord Ren are not as careful, or discreet, as you think you are. Just last week, in fact, you were observed, um, 'engaging' with each other in the maintenance boiler room."

Hux looked up at him slowly. "Where did you hear that?"

"A better question would be, where _haven't_ I heard that? You two are a very hot topic, it seems. Can't say I blame others for talking about it; you and Lord Ren make a very attractive couple. And I'm not the only one who thinks so."

In spite of how annoyed Hux felt, Ren's comment brought a smile to his face. He appreciated how charitable Ren was in his assessment, but in Hux's OWN opinion, there was nothing attractive about himself.

"We're not exactly a 'couple', though, _Matt_ ," he said. He felt ridiculous addressing Ren by his even-more-ridiculous pseudonym. "In all honesty, I'm not sure WHAT we are."

"Well, regardless of the label, I'm positive that Kylo Ren must have very strong feelings for you, General Hux. I've seen the way he kisses you; one doesn't kiss somebody that way without purpose."

Hux chuckled and shook his head in disagreement. "Kylo Ren is just an extremely physically demonstrative person. It doesn't mean anything."

Ren abruptly stood up, subtly adjusting his wig and glasses as he did so.

"You're a terribly difficult man to read, General Hux. Even for Kylo Ren, and HE can read minds."

Hux took that in silence, as Ren headed for the door.

"Matt?", he called, before Ren walked into the hallway.

Ren turned his head. "Yes?"

"If you happen to see Kylo Ren, can you please ask him to stop by my quarters later, say around 2100? I'd like to talk to him."

Ren nodded, then continued on his way.

.....................

Ren had Hux off of his feet and pressed against the wall before the door had even closed fully behind him. His lips were on his before Hux could draw in the breath to protest.

Not that he would have, anyway.

Ren seemed especially eager tonight, and, after a long few minutes of kissing, Hux drew himself away, breathless.

He took Ren's hand and pulled him over to the couch. As Ren sat down, Hux noticed a few stringy blonde hairs dotting his raven locks. He leaned close and plucked them out, wordlessly, dropping them to the floor.

"Matt said you wanted to talk to me," Ren said with a grin. At the same time he reached over with his strong hands and pulled Hux's body closer to his own, not allowing any distance between them.

Hux nodded. "I did. I missed you, 'Lo. I haven't seen you **once** today, after all," Hux teased him.

Ren smiled. "You missed me? Really?"

Hux nodded. "Of course. A day without you just isn't worthwhile, Kylo. Not to me, anyway. You know that, don't you?"

Ren responded by kissing him. He pushed him gently back into the couch, slowly kissing along the redhead's lips, throat, ears, neck, and anything else he could reach.

At some point, Ren's stomach interrupted them by growling, quite loudly. Both men separated at the sound, and laughed.

"Come on," Hux said, sliding out from underneath Ren. He grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "I'll make you something."

Ren sat down at the table as Hux bustled around, cooking for him. He watched him silently for a while, before repeating his statement from earlier.

"Matt said you wanted to _talk_ to me, but so far, you really haven't said a whole lot."

Hux grinned and sat down at the table, a mixing bowl in his hand. He began to stir the dough, enjoying the plopping sound it made against the spoon.

"Sorry; but I found something better to do with my lips."

Ren grinned back at him. 

"Seriously, though; Matt said you seemed a bit upset earlier."

Hux poured the contents of the bowl out on the table, and began to knead it. He was making fresh kessinimon bread, something that Ren went crazy for. He worked through the springy mass, adding in generous handfuls of sugar, kessinimon, and other sweet spices.

"I wouldn't say 'upset'; more like disturbed," Hux answered finally. He got up and dug his bread pan out of the cabinet, bringing it to the table. He deftly molded the dough into the pan.

"Well, why were you 'disturbed', then?"

Hux got up and put the pan into the oven, sliding it back. He set the timer, then went to the sink and grabbed a wet washcloth. He slowly started to clean the messy table.

"Matt told me something I wasn't aware of: people on base have seen us. You and me."

Ren nodded. "I know, he told me the same thing."

Now he looked up at Hux, timidly. 

"I know you've said before, that the reason we keep this a secret is for the sake of professionalism. I understand that; but is that really the only reason why?"

Hux took the cloth back to the sink and squeezed it out. Then he washed and dried his hands, before sitting back at the table.

"What do you mean?"

Ren looked down at his hands, pulling nervously at a loose thread in the tablecloth.

"I mean, it's not because of me, is it? It's not because you're in some way ashamed of me, or of us?"

"No!", Hux exclaimed, startled that Ren would even think such a thing. "Why would you draw such an erroneous conclusion?"

"'We're not exactly a couple'?", Ren quoted Hux's words from earlier back to him, seeming to forget he had said that to 'Matt', and not him.

Hux sighed, and reached across the table, putting his hand over the top of Ren's.

"I'm not embarrassed, or ashamed, of you, or us. Get that wretched idea out of your head. I'm confused. I do not understand what a man like YOU could possibly see in a man like ME. And I feel like, if we went public, other people would think that, too."

Ren was quiet for a long few moments, thinking. Suddenly his face cleared, and he said,

"You make me bread."

"Excuse me?"

"You make me bread. Right now you're making me kessinimon bread, and I know you hate kessinimon."

"How does bread relate to--"

"When I was sick two weeks ago you made me go to Med Bay. Then you came to my quarters and yelled at me for an hour about how stupid I was to go to an ice planet and not dress warmer."

"Because you were, Ren! Twenty degrees below zero and you ran around out there in nothing but those flimsy robes! You're lucky you only caught a cold, and not pneumonia!"

Ren smiled and nodded. "You're right, I was stupid. And you told me so, to my face. Everybody else lets me do or say whatever I please because they fear me, but not you. If you think something is foolish, or dangerous, you let me know your objections in no uncertain terms. And you do that, because you care. You do things like make me food that you yourself dislike, because you care. THATS what I see in you: you're the sweetest person in the galaxy."

Now he sighed, and continued,

"I just wish you weren't ashamed of me, Hux. Because no matter what you say otherwise . . ."

Hux wanted quite badly to hug him, but he couldn't. Because he knew, deep down, he wasn't the sweet, selfless man that Kylo made him out to be. He knew it, and was ashamed of it.

"What can I do, to show you that you're wrong?"

The answer was so immediate that Hux knew, without asking, that the subject had been at the top of Kylo's mind for quite some time.

"The Officers' dinner, next week. I want to go with you."

"We're both required to be there, anyway," Hux replied uneasily.

"No," Kylo responded, shaking his head. "I want to go WITH you. I want to sit next to you. Pull out your chair for you. Kiss you. Hug you. "

Panic leapt into Hux's brain immediately. He couldn't picture the scene Kylo was describing. He couldn't picture the two of them walking in, hand in hand, and EVERYBODY knowing about them.

And he didn't have to voice this fear out-loud, either; Kylo could hear it all perfectly well in his mind.

"I can't force you to hold my hand in public, or kiss me, or anything at all. I can't make you WANT to do those things, I can't make you WANT me, the way I want you."

"I never said I didn't want you!", Hux said, beginning to get angry. "At what point did I open my mouth and speak those actual words?!"

"Actions speak louder than words. Or, rather, lack of action. Kissing me in the boiler room, holding my hand, then snatching it away when you hear someone coming; that hurts."

"Kylo, I --"

"I've spent too many years denying myself of who I am, and what I want from life. I can't do it anymore, Hux. I can't keep living in secret. And if you're not ready to go there WITH me, then maybe it's best we stop this, and go back to being co-workers."

"You . . . you don't mean that?"

Kylo stood up slowly, and slowly headed for the front door. Hux sat numbly and watched him go, not knowing what to do, or say.

"Don't worry, it shouldn't hurt YOU too bad," Kylo said, softly, his hand on the door switch. "I mean, we weren't exactly a couple, were we?"; and he let himself out.

The timer on the oven went off, and Hux mechanically took out the bread pan, setting it on the table.

The silence of Kylo's departure he was gone was very loud, indeed.

...............

After a long and uncomfortable night of horrid sleep, Hux got up and got dressed for the day. The first item on his agenda was a meeting in the East conference room, and he dreaded this, because Kylo would be there as well.

Hux knew he needed to apologize, but saying Sorry was one of the hardest things in the world for him. He wasn't used to admitting wrong-doing, he wasn't used to having to express himself and his feelings.

When he got to the conference room, Kylo was already there, setting up a holo-chart for his small portion of the presentations.

"Good morning, Ren," Hux said, cheerfully, hopefully.

Ren gave him a silent nod and went back to his charts, leaving Hux's heart thudding uneasily in his chest.

He had little opportunity to say more, however, as more people filed into the room.

The meeting began with Ren's presentation. Hux kept his eyes on the table while he spoke, taking notes but scared to make eye contact with him.

This was the way it had been between them, back in the beginning. Both, mutually attracted, but too shy and unsure to make a move towards one another.

Hux didn't think he could go back to that, to not having Kylo. Not being able to hold him, to kiss him, to talk to him.

He couldn't.

He _wouldn't._

Ren sat quietly throughout the rest of the meeting, answering questions when necessary but otherwise very subdued.

As things came to an end, everyone moved slowly to collect their paperwork and materials.

Now was Hux's chance.

Kylo sat going through his datapad. He had another meeting of his own to conduct after this, in this same room, so he didn't see the point of getting up and leaving only to come right back.

Hux pushed back his chair and went to him, standing in front of him.

"Ren?"

Ren looked up as Hux's shadow fell across him.

Yes?"

He put a hand on the back of Ren's chair, leaned in, and kissed him. He kept kissing him even though Ren was too shocked to kiss him back; he kept on kissing him even though he was acutely aware that _everybody_ in the room was staring at them.

He pulled away and looked at Ren with a nervous smile.

Ren smiled back.

Activity in the room returned to normal, yet even without Ren's mind-reading capabilities, he knew that everyone in there couldn't wait to get out and spread around what they had just seen.

And that was just what Hux wanted.

No more hiding what they had. 

**_Ever._ **

Hux went to his seat and finished gathering his papers. He had to go and meet with Snoke, about the budget. On his way to the door he circled around again and kissed Ren on the cheek.

"Come see me later?"

Ren nodded. "Of course."

"Okay. Good luck with your meeting. Love you."

"Love you, too."


End file.
